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by dontcareajot



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-28
Updated: 2016-06-28
Packaged: 2018-07-18 20:04:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7328593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dontcareajot/pseuds/dontcareajot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s something about the way Jack is sitting- shoulders hunched and elbows close to his sides- and his distant, worried expression that makes whatever violence was pent up in Gabriel… lessen. It doesn’t melt away but it sinks below the surface. A fierce possessiveness rises to take it’s place. That, at least, is familiar. Some part of Gabriel has wanted to possess Jack since the moment he first laid eyes on him.</p><p>“Why didn’t you tell me?” Gabriel asks.</p><p>(or, <i>an excerpt from before the fall of Overwatch</i>)</p>
            </blockquote>





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Gabriel finds out when everyone else does.

Jack has been acting shifty for weeks. He’s always been a shit liar. Gabriel can see right through his repeated denials that anything is wrong, his repeated insistence that there’s nothing on his mind. So Gabriel had braced himself for- _something_. For an argument. For a bit of bad news. But not for this.

Not for Jack getting the promotion that Gabriel deserves, that _Gabriel_ has worked his ass off for. He hadn’t prepared himself to hear that announcement, to see Jack walk up onto the stage to accept the badge that should be Gabriel’s, to speak the words that should be Gabriel’s to speak. It feels like a betrayal.

As Jack opens his mouth, as Jack thanks his higher ups for the honor and strings together meaningless words about the future of Overwatch and his impossibly high hopes, Gabriel is overcome with the urge to break something. Anything. He wants to watch something shatter in his grip.

He wants to draw blood.

Jack’s blood, maybe.

He can picture the expression Jack would wear so clearly. Gabriel has, after all, seen him in pain more times than he would care to count. He would furrow his brow and bite his lip and lines would appear at the corners of his eyes. He’d start blinking, rapidly, as if he were about to cry- but Jack never cries. And wouldn’t that be something, if Gabriel could make him cry? Could actually bring him to tears?

Jack won’t quite look at Gabriel as he leaves the stage and Gabriel thinks _he knows what this meant to me_.

But, later, Gabriel goes looking for Jack. He’d like to say he doesn’t know why. The truth is, he doesn’t know how to stay away.

He expects to find Jack celebrating with his friends. Or, not friends, but admirers. Instead he finds Jack alone, in his quarters, staring at his shiny new badge like he’s terrified of it. He keeps running his thumb around the edge, over and over. He doesn’t look like he’s really seeing it. Or anything, for that matter, because Gabriel has to clear his throat before Jack notices him and then Jack jumps, blinks, and breaks into a smile. A soft, barely-there smile. A smile like a secret. The smile that’s just for Gabriel.

Gabriel wants to claw his eyes out.

“Afraid it’s going to bite you?” Gabriel asks. He leans against the door frame, arms crossed over his chest. Waiting, for once, for an invitation to draw closer.

Jack shakes his head. He glances back down at the badge in his grip. “Scared it’s gonna bite me in the ass, maybe.”

There’s something about the way Jack is sitting- shoulders hunched and elbows close to his sides- and his distant, worried expression that makes whatever violence was pent up in Gabriel… lessen. It doesn’t melt away but it sinks below the surface. A fierce possessiveness rises to take it’s place. That, at least, is familiar. Some part of Gabriel has wanted to possess Jack since the moment he first laid eyes on him.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Gabriel asks. He doesn’t mean to blurt it out.

Jack looks surprised, and then understanding. He moves, makes room for Gabriel beside him on the bed. He waits until Gabriel sinks down next to him, until their thighs are touching and Gabriel is close enough to feel Jack’s warmth, to say, “I wasn’t sure I was gonna say yes.”

Gabriel scoffs. He knows that Jack has never had the same ambitions as him, the same drive to move up, but only a fool would refuse this kind of promotion. “Why wouldn’t you?”

Jack drags a thumb along his own jaw line as he thinks. Jack is careful with his words. Or, he tries to be. He tries harder than most people. “Because… They’re using me.”

Gabriel doesn’t understand.

Jack elaborates, “They want me to be the face of Overwatch. They want a spokesperson, not a soldier.”

If it’s true then they chose wisely. Jack looks every bit the hero. The golden boy.

Violence simmers beneath Gabriel’s skin. He can feel it, and he pushes it away. 

“With you,” Gabriel says, because it looks like Jack needs to hear it. “They’re getting both.”

 _But it should’ve been me_ , he thinks, and wonders if Jack can read the words in his expression. Just in case, he turns his face away, tilts his chin down and stares at a fixed point on the carpet.

Maybe Jack interprets this as some sort of newfound demureness because he reaches over, places his fingers under Gabriel’s chin and directs his gaze back to him. He’s smiling again. Grateful. His fingers are callused. They feel rough against Gabriel’s skin. “I’ll have you,” he says. “At my side.” It doesn’t sound like a question but Gabriel knows it is.

“Yes,” Gabriel replies, because it’s expected. Because he doesn’t know how to stay away.

Jack closes the distance between them. Gabriel lets himself be kissed.

-

Jack is always busy. Jack is always surrounded by admirers. By fans. By people who call him a hero and laud him as their savior. People may doubt Overwatch but they never doubt Jack Morrison. 

And to those people, Gabriel is no more than another soldier. An _underling_. Jack is his superior officer and nothing more.

It irks Gabriel that they’re allowed to think that. It irks Gabriel even more that it’s mostly true.

Little do they know how desperate Jack gets sometimes. How Gabriel can _make_ him desperate. Lately, their time together has grown sparse. It’s difficult to get Jack alone. But when they do find time, it’s frenzied. Maddened. Jack pants and throws his head back, bares his neck and all but begs. At one point in time, Gabriel would have resisted the temptation to sink his teeth into Jack’s flesh. To mark him up and make him hurt. Now he gives in to the urge. Jack doesn’t seem to mind.

Or maybe Gabriel imagines the way he presses his skin into Gabriel’s nails, or the wild and daring look in his eyes when Gabriel wraps fingers around his throat. Maybe the way Jack moans when Gabriel bites him is all in Gabriel’s head.

At any rate, Gabriel is sure he’s caught Jack admiring the marks after the fact. He stands in front of the mirror, presses the pad of his thumb against the bruise, and looks wholly satisfied.

Jack’s uniform hides Gabriel’s handiwork. One more thing to be helplessly bitter about.

On missions, Jack treats Gabriel as he would any other soldier under his command. Gabriel recognizes that this is, in fact, proper behavior. That doesn’t stop it from getting under his skin. Jack took to command far too easily and the way he barks orders with absolute assurance that he will be obeyed is grating. Sometimes Gabriel wants to sew his mouth shut.

That feeling usually passes once the mission is over and they’ve returned successful. Or when Gabriel has Jack under him, flushed and wanting.

But sometimes Jack forgets to drop the act. He keeps barking orders even once they’re back in the barracks. Like now. He’s come all the way to Gabriel’s quarters just to chew him out as a commanding officer would, fire in his eyes and steel in his voice.

“You disobeyed a _direct order_ ,” Jack snaps, and Gabriel can practically _see_ the mask he’s wearing. This is the face he shows the world when he wants them to believe the bullshit he peddles. It’s the face he shows his men when he wants them to fall in line. This is not the Jack that Gabriel first met. This is a Jack that’s too comfortable being in charge. “I said _wait_ , Gabe. You nearly cost us the goddamn mission!”

“I _saved_ the mission,” Gabriel argues. He wants to lay hands on Jack, to do _something_ \- so he does. He shoves Jack, and when that doesn’t satisfy him, he does it again. This time, Jack catches his hands.

Now there’s fury to go with the fire but his grip on Gabriel’s hands is contrastingly light. “What the hell were you thinking?” Jack snarls- and it is a snarl. A low, gravelly thing. “Going off by yourself like that? I should have you written up. I should have you _suspended_.”

“Is that a _threat_?” Gabriel snarls back at him. “You wouldn’t dare.”

Gabriel wants Jack to hurt him so he can retaliate. He sees Jack consider it- but then Jack drops his hands and takes a step back, putting distance between them. “Like it or not,” he says, stern. “I’m your commanding officer now. Learn to deal with it, Gabe, or we’re going to have a problem.”

 _We already have a problem_ , Gabriel thinks. _How can you not see that?_

“Yes, sir,” he says instead, tone dripping acid. Jack pretends not to notice.

-

Gabriel has dreamt of this day. Dreams of blood and mayhem and the final, utter destruction of Jack Morrison.

It’s no wonder that his hands shake as he waits. Today will be the culmination of everything Gabriel has been planning these last several months. Today, he and his fellow Blackwatch members will strike an undeniable blow against Overwatch. It will cripple them. In mere moments, Gabriel will finally be free of everything Jack stands for.

His men don’t know what Jack means to him. They’ve heard stories, maybe, but Gabriel has been careful to conceal the full extent of their mutual history. It would only confuse them. They might be led to believe this is all an act of petty vengeance. They might lose faith in him, in their cause. And now, when Gabriel is so close, he can’t risk anyone having second thoughts.

For all his flaws, however, Gabriel is more than capable of being a leader. Not the sort of leader that men look up to, but the sort they fear. Gabriel’s men fear him enough that, if they have doubts, they’re smart enough not to voice them. 

Infiltrating the Overwatch facility is startlingly easy. No one expects Blackwatch agents to bear any ill will, even if they are out of place at the Swiss HQ.

Gabriel leaves his men with instructions to _wait_. He wants to see Jack Morrison lying dead at his feet before they deal with the rest of the facility. He’s earned that, at least.

Getting Jack alone is also easier than Gabriel could have anticipated. In Gabriel’s mind, Jack spends all his time surrounded by others. By people who adore him and would call him their friend, or by the people who wish to wield him as a weapon. So it’s surprising to find him on his own in the training facility, weapon in pieces before him as he cleans it. Jack always was meticulous about his weapons.

Gabriel pauses in the doorway to watch him. To see how he’s changed in the months since Gabriel last saw him.

In truth, he hasn’t. And neither has Gabriel’s response to him. His conflicted, confused response of _mine_ and _hate_ and the way his heart speeds up as his blood sings in his veins. This response is so ingrained in Gabriel at this point that he doubts he could ever be rid of it, no matter how deep he tries to bury it. The only way to be rid of it is to be rid of Jack.

Jack never looks quite _vulnerable_ but today he comes close. It’s been a long time since Gabriel has seen Jack out of his armor. Now he’s only in a simple, sleeveless white undershirt, revealing well-muscled arms crossed by the occasional scar. Gabriel is pleased to realize that he recognizes every single one. Part of him wants to undress Jack further, to see if there are any new scars. Any new stories. But that’s not his place anymore.

The two of them never officially cut ties, never officially became _less_. It was pure cowardice not to acknowledge their growing rift. Instead, Jack let Gabriel go without a word. Gabriel heard from Angela, sometimes, that Jack was missing him. Meanwhile Gabriel was left with only rumors and absolutely no communication from the man himself. Not that it would have made a difference. Gabriel is sure it would still have come to this. Gabriel would still take pleasure in eliminating Jack, the man who took Overwatch from him and mishandled it so badly.

Now, Jack’s wearied expression isn’t doing him any favors. Perhaps the burden of command is finally starting to weigh him down. Or maybe it’s the recent, unsavory rumors surrounding Overwatch. Jack is undoubtedly bearing the brunt of the public’s discontent. But isn’t that what he asked for, when he let himself be used?

Gabriel doesn’t announce himself but Jack finally takes notice. His instincts are good. He immediately stands up, tense, even as the name, “Reyes?” falls from his lips.

“What happened to ‘Gabe’? Not feeling so friendly anymore?” Gabriel moves further into the room. He, unlike Jack, is wearing his armor. And he’s well-armed. Armed to the teeth, even. Maybe that makes this unfair. Gabriel doesn’t really care.

“What are you doing here?” Jack asks, looking past him. Expecting more company, perhaps. Of course he wouldn’t expect Gabriel to come alone. And when he realizes that he is alone, Gabriel can tell that he _wants_ to let his guard down. That he wants to believe Gabriel would never hurt him. It’s almost… sweet. Gabriel can’t wait to bash his skull in. “I… I didn’t realize that Blackwatch was…” Jack pauses, starts again. “It’s been a long time.”

“Not that long, in the grand scheme of things.”

For a moment, Gabriel lets Jack study him. Gabriel entertains the idea that Jack is having many of the same thoughts he’d just been having. Especially when Jack’s gaze lingers on his hands. Jack used to say he loved Gabriel’s hands, as he slotted their fingers together and laid them over his own chest.

“Do you know why I’m here?” Gabriel asks, when it becomes clear that Jack doesn’t intend to speak.

Jack shakes his head but he says, “You’re up to no good, as usual.” Now his eyes cast about, searching for a weapon. The only weapon in sight is his currently dismantled pulse rifle. Gabriel smirks.

“Something like that,” he agrees, and makes his move.

Jack never needed a weapon to be dangerous. He proves that in the ensuing fight. Though when all is said and done, when Gabriel has Jack pinned against the wall by his throat, he’s almost disappointed it was so… easy.

Gabriel thinks, just maybe, Jack has lost his fire. There’s none of it in his eyes, even as he struggles against Gabriel’s grip with teeth clenched.

The first bit of blood has already been drawn. There’s red smeared across Jack’s teeth from a split in his lip. It’s not enough. Gabriel wasn’t to draw it out- unfortunately, he’s on something of a schedule.

It’s only when Gabriel pulls a gun, points it straight at Jack’s temple, that Jack seems realize his predicament. That’s when Gabriel is proven wrong. Jack does still have his fire. And, as always used to be the case, he fights hardest when he’s cornered.

He manages to knock the gun from Gabriel’s hand and free himself. He tackles Gabriel to the floor, scrambles to take a weapon off him or, at the very least, deal enough damage to incapacitate his foe. But Gabriel has sparred with Jack so many times that he knows exactly how to counter. And, what’s more, Gabriel strongly suspects Jack is holding back, sentimental fool that he is.

It’s a struggle- Gabriel had forgotten how strong Jack is- but Gabriel manages to wind up on top. He pins Jack’s arms with his knees, holds him down with his hand. With his other, he pulls out a grenade.

The sight of it makes Jack go still beneath him.

“I should make you eat it,” Gabriel says, baring his teeth.

Jack’s chest is heaving. So is Gabriel’s. “I fucking dare you,” he snarls- and there is the Jack that refuses to be beaten. The one that always subverts the odds. Gabriel will take so much joy in being the one to finally break him.

That’s when the first explosion rocks the building.

It shocks Gabriel, stuns him long enough for Jack to throw him off and switch their positions. But Gabriel has enough sense to cling to the grenade. He curls his finger as though he’s going to pull the pin.

“What was that?” Jack snaps. As if on cue, another explosion sounds, this one closer. They can hear screaming. Jack looks toward the source of the noise, brows furrowed. He wants to go and help, of course.

Gabriel laughs. “It’s too soon,” he says, which must sound nonsensical to Jack. He’s not sure what happened- did his men make a mistake? It doesn’t matter. He won’t let Jack get out of this with his life. Not after he’s come so close.

“What have you done?” Jack demands. He raises a fist, as if to strike Gabriel, but hesitates.

Gabriel laughs again.

The next explosion takes out the far wall of the training facility. It throws them apart. Gabriel raises his hands to shield himself from debris- and then the grenade goes off. Jack screams. It’s guttural, mindless. 

Gabriel hadn’t even realized the grenade was no longer in his grasp. When he sits up, anticipating another explosion and searching for a way out, even as he’s quietly resigning himself to a messy death, it’s to find Jack several feet away from him. Jack is on his knees, hands over his face. There are spots of red blossoming on his white undershirt, and there’s red seeping through his fingers. He looks like an angel, weeping blood.

 _Mission accomplished_ , Gabriel thinks. He feels strangley hollow.

The ground shatters beneath him. Jack is still screaming when Gabriel is deafened by the explosion. Gabriel refuses to scream. He closes his eyes, and lets blackness take him.

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: [dontcareajot](http://dontcareajot.tumblr.com)


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